The Silent Shadow
by Crimson Fox4
Summary: As I moved from one shadow to the next, I couldn't help but be constantly aware that any mistake, any slip up I made tonight could have catastrophic results. I couldn't lose my focus. Focus lost meant I would pay the cost.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm currently taking a creative writing course at my school, and we have a journal we do each day using different 'inspiration' that students bring in on a day they signed up for. Our 'inspiration' can range anywhere from an object, to a quote, to a song. This was an entry of mine from early last week (recently modified to fit better as a piece of fan fiction) and I wrote this about a certain young hero because of the quote for that day's inspiration:**

"**Don't fight the darkness, let the light bring darkness and darkness will disappear." – Yacht**

**It's short, but hopefully my first Young Justice fan fiction is up to par.**

**I don't own Young Justice, they are the property of DC Comics.**

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><p><em>The Silent Shadow<em>

As I moved from one shadow to the next, I couldn't help but be constantly aware that any mistake, any slip up I made tonight could have catastrophic results. I couldn't lose my focus. Focus lost meant I would pay the cost.

With such encouraging thoughts in mind, I peeked around the corner of an old brick building and tried to determine where my quarry had led me. They hadn't been very afraid of anyone following them, as they hadn't even employed any counter surveillance measures. Either I was _that_ good, or they were _that_ ignorant of the threat that had been trailing them all night.

Looking to the East, I realized with dismay that the dark, almost black sky near the edge of Gotham City was slowly turning into a gray colour. Night wouldn't last for much longer, and then my hiding places amongst the shadows would all but disappear with the coming light.

I'd never fought the darkness of night. I was at home prowling the grimy streets and sticking to the inky shadows until the true darkness of the city revealed itself. Most mornings, I didn't fight the first few rays of light either, as they only helped to illuminate the fine work I had accomplished in their absence.

Tonight however – this morning actually – I wasn't excited for the new morning light to chase away the darkness. I hadn't caught my target yet, or even discovered anything incriminating about them during their night time travels. I prepared to follow them into a nearby warehouse when I felt the heat of a new day on my back. With a grumble, I melted into the remaining shadows and expertly made my way back across the city, deciding that tonight's recon on my teammate had been a total bust.

Their secrets, whatever they were, would remain as they were – unknown.

For now, anyway.

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><p><strong>If anyone liked this, I have another journal entry I can modify a bit as well. Let me know if you want it posted. There should be some pretty good hints as to who the hero is, but have fun guessing.<strong>

**~Crimson Fox4**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I wasn't going to continue this story, at least not with a story arc (unless one of you out there is willing to suggest one…) but I came up with this today in my creative writing course, and well, you can see that by doing some quick additions and changing names, places, and such, this will fit nicely with the theme of this 'story'.**

**Here's the quote from this morning:**

"**Between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow. Between the desire and the spasm, between the potency and the existence, between the essence and the descent, falls the shadow. This is the way the world ends." – T.S. Elliot**

**I don't own Young Justice, they are the property of DC Comics.**

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><p><em>Night Falls, a Shadow for All<em>

My life is a constant balancing act between my actual life, and my… extracurricular activities. I live out my life during the day like any other high school student does. I get up, go to school, and do homework. I'm like other teenagers as we're always tired for one reason or another, but while others stay up until two in the morning playing video games, I spend my time amongst the shadows of night differently.

The idea of staying up until all hours of the night as one of Gotham City's resident vigilantes is amazing in itself to a thirteen-year old like me, but in reality, my shadowed life tends to interfere with my daylight life.

Sometimes, my reflexes I've developed over the past several years as Batman's protégé almost get the best of me. If I'm at school, I have to resist jumping out the nearest classroom window at the sound of a siren passing by outside. All I can do is sit and wait in class until the end of the day when I can turn an earlier intended motion into an action.

A problem I have with living in the shadows at night? The occupation imposes several rules to follow while others observe me in the light of day.

When I root out crime at night, there is often the slightest whisper of the desire to be in my bed, safely sleeping the night chill away like many other teenagers do. But no, I spend my evenings, nights, and early mornings in the alleys and on the rooftops. I constantly wait for any sign of suspicious movement to help take the spastic desires for relative safety away from me.

It's a strange existence, being a creature of the night. The potency of my reputation paired with my mentor's own established one brings about different emotions in both the criminals we face and those we've vowed to protect. Fear, resentment, awe, and so much more, but there's always a sense of mystery present when they try to understand us.

Having a secret identity and possessing an affinity to disappearing into the shadows of the night doesn't exactly instill feelings of familiarity in any person I've ever saved or defeated.

No matter how far I try to distance myself from the half of me that exists in the shadows, I can never quite rise above it. I always descend back down into the half of me that I'm the most comfortable with – the half of me that is in essence, the real me. Maybe it wasn't that way all that long ago, but now… sometimes it feels as though it's all I know.

Sometimes shadows move and change shape to confuse us, to disorient us, to eat us. Shadows are just that – shadows of a real object or person – something that is physical and finite. I often find myself wondering if Robin is really just the shadow of Richard Grayson that comes out to roam Gotham at night.

Yet, there are other times where I remind myself that a shadow proves the sunshine.

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><p><strong>I know this wasn't a true continuation of the first chapter, but it was still something interesting and involved shadows, so I figured this could be a home for it. Again, let me know what you think, and if there's something else you want me to add to this collection.<strong>

**For anyone who's reading **_**Oblivious**_**, I'm hoping to get an update up this weekend… there hasn't been one for a while because school, work, and a vacation along with more school and work swallowed me whole, sorry!**

**~Crimson Fox4**

**P.S. If anyone can tell me what song (and artist) the last sentence of this story alludes to, You may be able to persuade me to write you something upon your request…. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, this one was written way back in December, but I'm only getting to typing it now…. **

**I'm now done my creative writing course at school, so if anyone has any more 'shadowy' inspiration for me like the quotes and such I've been sharing, feel free to give it to me in a review or PM some time. Or any quotes that remind you of Young Justice I guess, as I might expand this story to include musings and thoughts from other members of the team besides Robin (Yes, it's been him all along).**

**Here's the quote that 'inspired' this back in December:**

"**The closer you get to the light, the longer your shadow stretches."**

**I don't own Young Justice, they are the property of DC Comics.**

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><p><em>A Light in the Night<em>

When it comes to hiding in plain sight, shadows are my greatest tool – it also just so happens that they are in abundant supply in Gotham City. With the vast mix of high apartment buildings and lower stores, the shadows in each alleyway of the city are different. I'd say that they all smell different too – which they do – but shadows aren't the cause of the smell.

No, the shadows in my city don't cause anything vile and putrid to erupt in the streets, humans are the ones responsible for that. We're self-centred, careless, and greedy. We look after ourselves and only ourselves.

I always watch from the shadows for a time as different forces in my city collide in age old battles of strength, wit, wisdom, and morals.

It's hard to take the moral high road – to do what's right no matter what anyone else says. It's even harder to restrain myself from doing whatever's necessary to get the job done – to bring peace and safety to Gotham. But, if I'm willing to shove my moral values aside in order to achieve their end goal, then what I do is pointless. If I abandon the ethics and morals my mentor has drilled into my conscience night after night, day after day, then I become a just like the scum I battle every night.

Ruthless.

Liars.

Thieves.

Hypocrites.

It's disgusting what some people are willing to do in order to further their personal and unrelenting quest for power and wealth. People don't yearn for honestly earned respect and standing anymore. They look for the quick and easy route, never thinking about whom they hurt, never looking twice at the _right_ way of achieving their dreams.

Doing what's right – it's harder than doing whatever I want. Maybe that's why I enjoy the challenge of what I do so much. I practically live in the shadows at nighttime. I use the shadows of Gotham City to conquer other, more sinister shadowy beings in my city.

Yet, my heart is not hidden in shadows. It cannot be touched.

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><p><strong>Well, I hope that was alright and up to everyone's standards. Like I mentioned above, I don't think this story will ever end up having an actual plot… it'll most likely end up being a collection of thoughts and musings on different things – shadows and otherwise. <strong>

**Thoughts, questions, concerns?**

**~ Crimson Fox4**

**By the way, the last sentence of chapter two was a reference to a Switchfoot song, I'll leave the title up to you all to figure out :) Good luck!**


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